Lasting Impression
by Runner Boy
Summary: Nakada Inoue, upset over the dismantling of his distance running club, decides to go for a jog to cool off. When he crashes into a boy named Kobayakawa Sena near home a whole new generation of upstart American football teams will be born in Tokyo.


He wandered aimlessly down the street as he tried to sort this out. _How could they do this? The club had more than three members, they should've supported us. It's not my fault they couldn't afford to keep our school club, they spent the money. There's definitely no way I'd join the track team either after what their captain did to my friends. _"Ughh…" he kicked a rock sitting close by him farther down the sidewalk, "They just can't see any difference between distance runners and sprinters. And the sprinters in our track club have such a deadlock on the decisions that we wouldn't even get to run anyways. It's so dumb!" He wanted hit the air or do something stupid, just let out some frustration.

So, to deal with his problem Nakada Inoue started to run. It always cooled him off emotionally to jog a bit. Down the narrow street past the place that made those awesome cream puffs, around the corner of the second subway entrance, over the bridge back towards home. Coming around the street corner before his house Inoue looked up from his feet just before slamming into someone. On impact he could tell they were smaller than him (not by much though because he was no giant himself), but the figure had absorbed the hit better than size would let on.

Once he stood up, Inoue was looking into the eyes of a boy who was profusely apologizing, "I'm Kobayakawa Sena, ummm… if you need any help or anything just ask. I can't believe I didn't see you, I'm very sorry, please excuse me."

"No, no, it's okay," replied a slightly overwhelmed Inoue. He finally recovered his mental footing and held out his right hand, "Let me be the polite one for a sec, I'm Nakada Inoue."

"Oh! You must think I'm rude for not asking your name earlier, again I'm really sorry, you just came around the corner when I did and…," Inoue could tell the other boy was still flustered as Sena shook his hand very quickly and wasn't surprised when he suddenly jumped tracks, "were you running too?"

Reaching up to scratch the back of his head in his own nervous gesture Inoue replied, "Yeah, I was trying to think some things over." In an attempt to divert the conversation with his new acquaintance away from his own problems he quickly added, "What were you running for?"

"I play on my school's American Football team and I was just training for our next game."

"American Football? I think I've heard of that. It Sounds like something to check out on my computer when I get home."

"It's pretty fun, I know I like it a lot, but I guess you don't have to feel that way. Well, it's been nice talking to you. If you're okay then I'll keep running now."

Inoue could tell how worried Sena still was and that last sentence had definitely been a question, "I'm fine, really. I was almost home anyways. Enjoy your run."

"Thanks!" Sena flashed a smile back while darting around the corner.

_Woah, he's pretty fast! Hmm…isn't American Football dangerous? How can a kid his size play, sounds like a research night._

* * *

The red numbers on the digital clock next to Inoue's computer flashed twelve a.m.The boy shifted his mouse across the the pad on his small, beige desk and the arrow on the screen responded. _Hmmm… this American Football thing looks pretty fun, I wonder if our school has a club for this. I mean if I'm not going to be able to form a distance team then maybe I should try something else, right? I wonder if Sena's team is any good… _He moved the mouse and mouthed "Kobayakawa Sena" while he typed. _I hope that's spelled right. Woah, there are a lot of hits for this search. _The words on the screen "Eyeshield 21 Carries Deimon to Christmas Bowl" or "Eyeshield 21 Unmasked in Game with Bando" hinted that there was more to this Sena figure than he'd guessed. What he found on the dozens of web pages he scanned was the tale of a real underdog. _Deimon did all of that? Hey, they're not too far from my school! I bet we've played them if we have a team._

Sliding the mouse around some more and typing in his own school with the words American Football next to it Inoue decided to grab a glass of water before the page finished loading. Walking back into the room he saw his bed under the window and realized how tired he was. _I'll just be up a little longer, then I can go to bed._ Turning around towards his desk he saw the newly loaded screen and Inoue almost laughed at the irony. "Figures, I find a new chance after the distance team is thrown apart and then I learn that our football team didn't win one game in the Autumn Tokyo Tournament…and we lost to Eyeshield 21 and Deimon 46 – 6 too."

_That's kind of surprising; our sports teams are usually really good, although I guess it says something that I didn't know we had an American Football club. If I want a project then the American Football club is where I should go. Hey, that would be cool! Nakada Inoue leading the newest Yuuhi sports success to the nationals! _An image of cheering students lifting him up into the air flashed excitedly through Inoue's head. "Then again, haha, I'd never be outgoing enough to rally all those students. Maybe I should just join the team and go from there. That sounds like a plan…oh man! I need to get some sleep!" _I can head straight to the American football field in the morning and tell their captain I want to join._


End file.
